Keeping the pressure on...

'Axe unelected assembly' call
Nov 11 2004
By Zoe Hughes, The Journal
Read online here

The North-East's unelected regional assembly should be abolished and "buried" for good, according to Tory leader Michael Howard.

Challenging the Prime Minister on the Government's commitment to the existing body, Mr Howard said the decision of 78pc of voters last week to reject an elected version proved the regional assembly issue was "dead" in the public's mind.
"The people have spoken: regional assemblies are dead," he said during Tony Blair's weekly question time in the Commons. "Why don't you bury them?"

However, with an unusual burst of energy for the Prime Minister on the issue of regions, Mr Blair declared unelected assemblies were here to stay for good, saying they did "a perfectly good task".
"We won't abolish them because they perform a perfectly good task of co-ordinating action in the regions," he said amid cries and jeers from all sides of the House.

In one of the most raucous sessions of Prime Minister's question time seen in recent weeks, Mr Blair said the unelected organisations, whose membership is made up primarily of local councillors, "certainly do serve a purpose".

The Conservatives had created government offices for the regions, he said. "That is precisely what we have recognised with the regional chambers (assembly). There won't be a regional assembly in the North-East because they didn't vote for one."
North-East Labour MPs are also struggling to overcome their disappointment with the referendum decision - and how the region can best take forward its agenda to reduce the North-South divide.

A meeting of the regional parliamentary group in Westminster saw MPs agree not to press forward with more "structural" solutions to the North's problems, but to focus instead on "delivering" for the public.

Alan Campbell, MP for Tynemouth, told The Journal: "We have to recognise that people in the region are not interested in structures, they want delivery instead. What is clear is that the Northern group of MPs now has to listen to that message, which was very loud and clear.
"The No vote was in essence a sign of confidence in the region, that people don't want to be spoon-fed or put on special measures.
"What we do have to do, though, is make sure elected representatives connect with the people, and that we all work with interested partners in the region, who also have the interests of the North-East at heart."

He was joined by Durham North's Kevan Jones, who said: "We all recognise that we need a bit more time to think about what we are all going to do now. That's the best approach because we've been told structures are not the answer to this." Some North-East MPs have suggested creating a special regional select committee or grand committee to allow politicians to present a single voice, however that is unlikely to get off the ground.

Yesterday, Mr Blair said he also accepted the referendum result adding: "We abide by the result and will now continue to strengthen local democracy in other ways."
Tory leader Mr Howard used the No vote to push his demands for more devolution to local councils, saying: "Isn't it clear that the lesson of last week is that people want local government and less government not more government?

"There are now eight regional assemblies in England. They cost millions of pounds. We now know they have no popular support at all. When will you abolish them?"